Kirk Cousins speculation is back in the 49ers’ orbit. Because of course it is. Kyle Shanahan making Cousins the Plan A for his first venture into finding a franchise quarterback is bound to follow him for as long as either he or Cousins are employed by an NFL franchise.
Until now there hasn’t been much opportunity for the two sides to reconnect. The 49ers have been mired in their own turmoil at QB while Cousins has been locked into cushy, fully-guaranteed deals with the Vikings. Recent news that Cousins plans to hit free agency this offseason, combined with San Francisco’s seemingly perpetual question mark under center has thrust us all back into the rumor mill where Shanahan continues pursuing of his holy-ish grail.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio is of the mind that next offseason will feature a showdown between Shanahan and Rams head coach Sean McVay for Cousins’ services. Florio didn’t have hard reporting here, but the speculation makes sense. It is just (rightly) connecting dots between Cousins and his two former offensive coordinators in Washington who both have an air of instability at the game’s most important position.
For the 49ers the question isn’t so much whether Shanahan would be interested in Cousins. The question is how San Francisco would get to a place where they’re looking for a QB next offseason. There are a handful of dominoes that would need to fall before the team, which has been constructed around having a relatively cheap quarterback room, invests big money at the position.
Let’s take a look at what would need to happen to get San Francisco to overhaul its team-building strategy for a 35-year-old QB who is 1-3 in playoff games: